Heading into the 2026 fall season, few teams in the American Conference feel as strong as the UAB Blazers, given their returning production. For 2027, many in college baseball see UAB as the team with the pieces to make some noise in the spring. This is largely because they retained 23 players from last season who made major contributions. What’s even more impressive as UAB approached the fall season is the 21 guys on the roster from the state of Alabama who understand what it means to wear that UAB across the chest, as they represent something much larger than themselves, as they represent not only the city of Birmingham, but the entire state of Alabama as well.
UAB finished last season 33-26 and 15-12 in the American Conference, with wins over Florida, Cincinnati, Alabama State, Alabama, and UTSA, giving the Blazers plenty of momentum to carry into the 2026 fall season. Last year proved that, with the right amount of time for development, this UAB team has the pieces to not only compete but to win the American and earn a return trip back to an NCAA Regional for the first time since 2012, when they won Conference USA to reach the Tallahassee Regional, where they went 0-2 against Florida State and Mississippi State.
Heading into the fall of 2026, here’s the numbers breakdown of the production returning for UAB this spring.
RETURNING PRODUCTION:
– 74% of hits
– 79.8% of runs scored
– 80.2% of extra-base hit production
– 86% of stolen bases
– 61.2% of innings pitched
UAB returns six players who played in 50+ games in 2026.
Among all returners, the Blazers return a combined 400 starts in the field and 38 starts on the mound.
Before even talking about the roster itself, the numbers are certainly there for excitement not only from within the program walls, but in the outside college baseball world as well. When you have that level of production returning for another season, there’s the play on the field, but then there’s another year of those guys on the roster who have spent time in this system which over the course of time leads to molding a culture and simply a roster full of guys who are leaders, who have been here before and understand what it’s going to take for UAB baseball to that next step and not only return to a Regional or compete for the American Confernce Championship, but to be a difficult out for anyone in a Regional, Super Regional, and beyond to a College World Series.
Before talking about last season’s players, UAB returns Ryan Olson, Josh Holley, Andrew Prejean, Caden Kok, and Jacob Francis. Those guys either missed all of last season due to injury or were injured for a large portion of the year, and they used the extended offseason to not only get stronger on the diamond, but also to learn from their teammates and Coach Casey Dunn about leadership and what it’s going to take from those guys this season to provide UAB with quality that turns into production on the field.
As for the returning production, UAB has John Paul Head, who led the way with 22 home runs last season for the Blazers, Landon Beaver, Kevin Hall Jr., Andrew Hunt, Chase Ingram, Alex Dupuy, Baylor Roberts, Alex Cheeseman, Max Price, and Austin Pierzynski returning this season for the Blazers. Then 13 guys on the mound, with Brendan Connor, Carter Samuelson, Konner Keplinger, Riley Miller, Isaac Warrick, Justin Hicks, and Christian Helmers all returning for the Blazers.
Coach Dunn and his staff also hit the portal and added a few guys from other Division I programs: Steven Cavaco from Ohio State and Jace Norton from Southern Miss. They also added Payton Armor from Lincoln Memorial University. From the Juco ranks: Gunner Dodd (Shelton State), Blaze Gerhart (Snead State), Bryson Morman (Coastal Alabama), Noah Cribb (Florence Darlington Tech), Alex Davis (South Arkansas College), and Kent Collier (Georgia Highlands College).
First-year players: Isaiah Ludlow, Jake Brown, Caiden Caldera, Ashton Blair, Eli Hubbert, Cutter Smith, Rhys Jones, and John Lindsey.
As for the fall ball schedule, UAB has played two games so far, with an 8-5 win over West Georgia and an 18-10 loss to Keenesaw State. With limited stats, aside from a few X updates, Kent Collier appears to have had a three-hit day on Sunday the 18th, and Landon Beaver had a two-homer day as well. On Saturday, Caiden Caldera and Gunner Dodd were mentioned for pitching performances.
As for the rest of the fall season, UAB will hit the road to Alabama on Friday night to face an in-state College World Series participant. They’ll close out the fall season with a road trip to Plainsman Park to take on the Auburn Tigers on Friday night, November 6th. Two more opportunities for the Blazers to earn valuable game experience against two programs with a lot of success inside the best baseball conference in college baseball.
It’s early, but there’s certainly a lot of momentum for the upcoming UAB baseball season; if the Blazers stay healthy, the 2027 season could be the one where they finally break through to reach a Regional. What people don’t realize, though, is that for UAB to take that step, they’ll have to keep competing in one of the most underrated baseball conferences in the country; but with returning production as the driving force, expectations for Blazers baseball ahead of the 2027 season are certainly deserved. For many, the preseason expectations might bring an unwanted cloud around a program, but Coach Dunn and his Blazers ‘ expectations are living proof that the program is doing something right, and now comes the fun part of living up to the expectations, taking UAB baseball back to winning championships and competing in an NCAA Regional and beyond. As for the fans, in a world of the transfer portal and money-hungry athletes, I would encourage you, if you live within an hour of Birmingham, to go out this spring and support this program, as they have done everything the right way and have a product placed on the field that represents the city of Birmingham in the best way possible. Coach Dunn and his Blazers can only do so much; the other half of taking things to the next level comes from the support of the baseball fans in and around Birmingham. Learn the roster, then pack the stadium, because that support could be the difference between competing for and winning a conference championship and beyond. The players have done their part; now it’s the city of Birmingham’s responsibility to rally behind this baseball program.
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Photo credits- UAB baseball on X
